While so-called “three strikes laws” have been passed in several countries to kick those repeatedly accused of copyright infringement off the Internet, Cnet is reporting that some US ISPs are not waiting for the government to impose such a system. Several companies including Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon are reportedly deep in talks with entertainment companies to establish tough punishments for alleged file sharers.

While the traditional image of pirates is pretty cool, we're actually a little scared of them in real life, what with all the murder and pillaging. We think the US Government misunderstood our cries for justice, though. Rather than banning eyepatches and shoulder-bound parrots, the "Protect IP Act" bill approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier today gives the Justice Department extensive – and some may say excessive – powers to shut down websites that host copyright-infringing materials. It would need to pass a full Senate vote before becoming law.

Conventional “wisdom” says consoles are a land of milk, honey, and Firefly never being canceled while PC is a piracy ridden hive of scum and villainy. And let's not dance around the facts here: we'd all be a lot better off if pirates took a cue from Fable III and traded in their horns for halos. That said, the game's lead combat designer isn't convinced that consoles are any better off.

In a new report, the International Trade Commission called out China for its rampant piracy problem and "indigenous innovation policies" for costing the U.S. economy up to $48 billion in 2009. The report also blames China for costing Americans 2.1 million full time jobs that would otherwise be created if China substantially improved its intellectual property rights policies.

We usually think of the relationship between torrent sites and ISPS as an adversarial one. In fact, Comcast was caught filtering torrent traffic a few years back. But when the Pirate Bay began having connectivity issues today, Comcast reached out to help them.

Just because invasive DRM always ends up as the star of the show (genre's tragedy, for those wondering) that is the gaming industry's struggle against piracy, that doesn't mean it's the only option. Case in point: popular Half-Life 2 spin-off Garry's Mod. It all started a couple days ago when certain players began experiencing a very peculiar glitch.

By the time you read this, it is possible that New Zealand will have passed a highly controversial anti-piracy bill. The legislation is a so-called 3-strikes law that would require ISPs to disconnect those accused of repeated copyright infringement. The bill came up unexpectedly, catching many law makers off guard.

A congressional hearing this morning took on a confrontational tone as Representatives criticized Google for falling short on policing piracy online. After pointing out that El Goog did pull Grooveshark from the Market (which is apparently a good thing), the committee chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte said it was not about what Google has done, " But more about what Google has left to do."

Grooveshark will no longer be able to serenade Android users as Google pulled down the company's music app from the Android Market on Tuesday. The unceremonious removal, according to a Google spokesperson, was consistent with the company's policy of removing all those apps that violate its terms of service. But there could be a lot more behind the removal of Grooveshark's app than the rather hackneyed clarification offered by Google suggests. More on this story after the jump.

Content owners tend to speak frequently about the huge problem that p2p donwloads have caused for their businesses. A recent recording industry report said the music business would "struggle to survive unless we address the fundamental problem of piracy." A new report from NPD group, however, lets us all know how big of a problem piracy really is. As it turns out, only 9% of American internet users are pirates.